Topic 7 - New Right

• Murray

  • Underclass don't have the same values so are responsible for a high proportion of crime due to their rejection of mainstream norms and values.
  • Lack of commitment and employment, delinquent children, and drunkenness is what leads to criminal behaviour.
  • Inadequate socialisation due to unmarried mothers and a lack of male role models leads to crime.
• Tham

  • Sweden had a lower increase of crime and less imprisonment compared to UK
  • The fact that crime rates still increased more rapidly in UK shows that crime isn't a result of welfare dependency
• Murray & Herrnstein

  • Crime is the result of low IQ.
  • Low intelligence is linked to unemployment, injury, welfare dependency, divorce, and poverty
  • More likely to commit crime if personal traits, such as impulsivity and aggressiveness, are not socialised out by family
• Bourdieu criticised Murray and Herrnstein as IQ is directly linked to cultural capital and is therefore an incorrect measure of intelligence
• Marxists, like Snider, would argue against Murray and Herrnstein's focus on crimes that are associated to marginalised groups as it ignores crimes committed by the powerful upper-class, like corporate and white-collar.
• Marsland

  • State is too generous with benefits which leads to a culture of dependency whereby individuals are not self-reliant
  • Schools and religion have become less effective agencies of social control - the moral glue in society which gave it authority has gone, leading to a decline in morality and the breakdown of the moral fabric of society.
• Marxists would criticise Marsland as the lower classes are enslaved into the culture of dependency out of necessity. They are exploited for their labour which leads to low levels of skills and income.
• Hall et al, Neo-Marxist, would criticise Marsland's theory as the negative labelling of marginalised groups by media contributes to their enslavement into the cycle of dependency due to stigma.
• Dennis & Erdos

  • Decline in civility and respect for authority in communities that are characterised by anomie and cultural dis-organisation.
  • Fatherless families have a detrimental effect on young men due to a lack of role models and discipline - decline in family values.
• 'Left' approach embraces the new liberalism emerging from the postmodern world - tolerance for different lifestyles, relationships, and behaviours. They reject the assumption from Dennis and Erdos that this leads to decline and crime.